Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cybersecurity

    Mozilla Firefox 27 Delivers Better Security, Performance

    By
    Sean Michael Kerner
    -
    February 4, 2014
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Mozilla today released Firefox 27, giving users of the open-source browser new security features and improved performance.

      There are 13 security advisories attached to the Firefox 27 release, four of them ranked as being critical. As is common in nearly all Firefox release updates, one of the critical updates is for a group of vulnerabilities that Mozilla labels “Miscellaneous memory safety hazards.”

      There is also a critical fix for a use-after-free memory error reported to Mozilla by way of Hewlett-Packard’s Zero Day Initiative. Use-after-free errors enable attackers to potentially leverage legitimate memory space to launch arbitrary code.

      In addition, Firefox 27 provides a fix for a download dialog box window issue that potentially could have enabled a spoofing attack.

      “Security researcher Jordi Chancel reported that the dialog for saving downloaded files did not implement a security timeout before button selections were processed,” Mozilla warned in its advisory. “This could be used in concert with spoofing to convince users to select a different option than intended, causing downloaded files to be potentially opened instead of only saved in some circumstances.”

      Among the more interesting flaws fixed in Firefox 27 is one rated as having low impact that could enable an attacker to reset a user’s profile.

      “Yazan Tommalieh discovered a flaw that once users have viewed the default Firefox start page (about:home), subsequent pages they navigate to in that same tab could use script to activate the buttons that were on the about:home page,” Mozilla’s security advisory states. “In some cases a malicious page could trigger session restore and cause data loss if the current tabs are replaced by a previously stored set.”

      Firefox 27 also includes default support for the Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 specification. When Firefox 27 first entered beta in December 2013, Sid Stamm, privacy and security engineer at Mozilla, told eWEEK, “TLS 1.2 is the next logical step in offering sites support for the latest standards with the protections they want.”

      Mozilla is a little later than its browser peers in providing full default support for TLS 1.2. Google Chrome 30, Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 and Apple Safari 7 already support the spec.

      From a performance perspective, Firefox 27 now supports the SPDY 3.1 protocol. SPDY is a Web protocol effort first begun by Google in 2011 with the goal of providing accelerated transport.

      Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

      Sean Michael Kerner
      Sean Michael Kerner is an Internet consultant, strategist, and contributor to several leading IT business web sites.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×